Yarn conditioning process and composition therefor



Patented Jan. 9, 1940 YARN CONDITIONING PROCESS AND COMPOSITION THmEFOB- Joseph B. Dickey, Rochester, N. Eastman Kodak Company,

I, assignor to Rochester, N. Y.,

a corporation of New Jersey No Drawing. Application November 26, 1937, Serial No. 176,890

This invention relates to the conditioning of textile yarns and more particularly to the con ditioning of filaments and yarns composed of organic derivatives of cellulose such as cellulose 6 acetate, cellulose acetate propionate, cellulose acetate butyrate, etc, to render them more amenable to textile operations such as knitting and the like.

As is well known in the manufacture of yarns, particularly those composed of or containing cellulose organic derivatives, it is necessary to treat the yarn in order to reduce the tendency toward breakage of the individual filaments or fibers when they are subjected to various mechanical strains and to lubricate the yarn in order to facilitate handling in such operations as spinning, twisting, winding and reeling. It is also necessary to treat yarn to adapt it for use as warp or filling or for the manufacture of various types 0 of knitted fabrics. In knitting, it is particularly important that the yarn be soft andpliable in order that it may conform readily to the contour of the needles and thus produce a closely knit fabric free from such defects as stitch distor- 55 tion, pin holes, laddering, and the like.

In addition, especially in operations where the yarns tend to accumulate high charges of static electricity, it renders them difllcult if not impossible to handle satisfactorily, such as in the :0 manufacture and use of cut staples, it is necessary to apply to the yarn an antistatic or deelectrification agent.

Heretofore it has been proposed to employ softening agents such as polyhydric alcohols and 5 similar agents as ingredients of yarn conditioning or lubricating formulas, generally in connection with mineral, animal or vegetable oils. It has been found, however, that most of the known softening agents and the various formulas containing them have certain drawbacks, one of the most serious of which is high vapor pressure, and in some cases too drastic a solvent action on the yarn. Many of such agents possess slight or insuflicient solvent power for the lubricants with i which they are used, and it is accordingly necessary to employ blending agents or emulsifying agents in order to obtain operable yarn treating formulas. In addition, many of the known softening and lubricating agents are insumciently soluble in water to permit satisfactory removal by aqueous scour baths.

Furthermore, many of those agents which have been employed either as softening or lubricating agents, or as de-electrification agents, or for both purposes, have not proved wholly satisfacmulas which are capable, not only of softening tory. Many of the antistatic agents recommended in the prior art, for example, are crystalline substances, which tend to cling tenaciously to the yarns to which they are applied resulting in an undesirable roughened surface effect. 5 Such agents often are insoluble in water or the usual scour baths and tend to resist removal from the yarn material by ordinary means.

This invention has as its principal object to provide an entirely new class of yarn condition- 10 ing agents which are particularly adapted for the treatment of yarns composed of or containing organic derivatives of cellulose and capable of lubricating, softening and rendering such yarns more amenable to knitting and other textile op- 16 erations. A further and specific object is to provide a class of conditioning agents which augment or assist the lubricating action of various lubricants when applied to such yarns. A still further object is to provide yarn softening and lubricating formulas which can be readily removed from the yarns by the usual scour baths. A still further object is to provide an improved method for the conditioning of yarns, particularly those composed of or containing organic derivatives of cellulose such as cellulose acetate, whereby the yarn is rendered soft and pliable and capable of employment in a variety of textile operations where complicated designs or stitches are employed. Another obiectis to provide an improved type of yarn which is especially amenable to textile operations including knitting, weaving, spinning and the like. Still another object is to provide yarn treating forand lubricating cellulose organic derivative yarns, but are also capable of acting as antistatic or die-electrification agents therefor. An additional object is to provide a method of de-electrifying such yarns in the manufacture of cut staple fibers. Other objects will appear hereinafter.

These objects are accomplished by the following invention which, in its broader aspects, comprises the discovery that organic compounds having the general formula:

CHr-CH:

posed of or containing organic derivatives of mineral, or vegetable oils, in the treatment of yarns composed of or containing organic deriv-' atives of cellulose. I have found that these compounds have a slight solvent and/or softening action on cellulose organic derivative yarns which renders such yams soft and pliable without at the same time having 'too drastic a olv t action thereon.

In accordance with the invention these compounds may be applied directly to the yarn dur- Asindicated I have also found that cut staple yarns of various types, particularly those comcellulose such as cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate propionate and the like. may be treated with compoundsof the character indicated above to reduce accumulations of static electricity thereon and otherwise to adapt them for use in the manufacture of yarns on the cotton, woolen or worsted systems.

In the following examples and description I have set forth several of the preferred embodiments of my invention, but they are included merely for purposes of illustration and not as a limitation thereof.

The above-mentioned compounds which Ihave found effective as yarn-softening and de-electrliflcation agentsare morpholine, derivatives, particularly salts, esters, or half-esters of morpholine. Typical examples of these salts are morpholine oleate and ethyl morpholine lauryl monosulfate. These compounds are readily prepared by reacting equivalent amounts of acid and base. If desired, there may be present an excess of base or acid. Morpholine oleate, for example, may be prepared by adding 8.7 grams of morpholine with 28.3 grams of oleic acid. Likewise ethyl morpholine lauryl monosulfate may be prepared by adding 11.5 grams of N-ethyl morpholine to 26.6 grams of lauryl sulfate.

My invention will be more readily understood by reference to the following examples in which typical applications of the invention are set forth:

Example I.--Yarn designed for knitting and composed of cellulose acetate is treated by apply ing thereto morpholine cleate by means of an applicator roll. The amount of the conditioning liquid may run from 4 to by weight of the untreated yarn. If the yarn is intended for weaving, the same procedure may be followed,

- except that the amount of the conditioning agent added to the yarn is only about 1 to 5%.

Example II .A cel1u1ose acetate cut staple yarn having a staple length of three inches is treated by applying thereto 2-20% of ethyl morpholine lauryl monosulfate. The yarn so treated is found to be in excellent condition for the manufacture of spun yarn.

Example III.--A conditioning liquid is made up by mixing the following ingredients in the indicated proportions:

' Percent Tetrahydrofurfural glycerol 70 N-p-hydroxyethyl morpholine palmitate This composition is applied to a cellulose acetate yarn intended for knitting in an amount representing 4 to 25% by weight of the untreated yarn. The filaments or fibers treated as described above are quite soft and pliable and give excellent re- As will be apparent from the above examples and description, the conditioning agents of my invention may be applied by a wide variety of methods. For example, I may employ the agent as an ingredient of the spinning dope from which the filaments are formed, the amount of yarn after spinning, this may be done by bringsuits in textile operations, especially in knitting.

Other examples of yarn conditioning compositions which may be applied to various types of yarns, particularly cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate propionate, cellulose acetate butyrate, and similar cellulose organic derivative yarns in. accordance with my invention and which render such yarns soft and pliable and especially well adapted for various textile operations, particularly knitting, are the following:

' Example IV Percent Morpholine phosphate l Blown olive oil 40 Tetrahydrofurfural glyceryl acetate; 59

Example V Percent Phenylmorpholine lactate .t 5 Neat's-foot oil 95 I Example VI Percent Benzylmorpholine caproate l0 Blownneats-foot oil 60 Tetrahydrofurfuryl lactate Example VII w Percent Methyl morpholine laurate 20 Laurie acid 10 Neats-foot oil... '10

Example VIII Percent Tetrahydrofurfurylmorpholine stearate 10 Light mineral oil Example IX g Percent Cetylmorpholine oieate 50 Blown'sperm oil 50 Example X Percent Morpholine cetyl sulfate 5 Mineral oil Example XI I Percent Water 80 Gelatin 5 Methylmorpholine oleyl sulfate 10 Tetrahydrofurfuryl lactate 5 Example XII Percent Water Water soluble cellulose ester 5 Morpholine oleate 20 Sulfonated olive oil I.-- 5

It may, for example, be applied to the yarn inside or outside the spinning cabinet, between the guide and godet roll, between the godet or other roll or guide and the point of winding and/or twisting. In some cases, the liquid may even be applied to the yarn after winding onto cones, spools, bobbins, or the like or by the so-called bobbin to bobbin method. In the case of staple fiber manufacture, the liquid may be applied to the yarn prior to, or after cutting into staple lengths.

The amount of the agent so employed will vary widely depending upon the results desired, the specific nature of the material to which the agent is applied, the use to which the yarn is eventually to be put and other factors. For example, in a given case where a cellulose organic acid ester yarn such as a yarn composed of cellulose acetate, is intended for knitting, about 4 to 25% or more by weight, based on theweight of the dry yarn, may be satisfactory, while if the yarn is intended for weaving, the amount may vary between about 1 and 5%.

Although in the above examples I have referred primarily to yarn treating compositions containingonly the conditioning agent and an oil, other ingredients such as solvent, non-solvents, emulsifyingmgents, blending agents and the like, may be added within the scope of my invention. Likewise, various dyes or other coloring matter may be included in case it is desired to permanently or fugitively tint or dye the material undergoing treatment.

Although I have found it convenient to illustrate my invention by reference to compositions containing specific percentages of the various ingredients, these percentages may vary widely depending uopn the particular purpose for which the composition is intended. For example, if it is desired to control the solvent or softening action of the conditioning agent, the amount of the agent may be adjusted as, for example, by reducing the amount of the agent and correspondingly increasing the amount of oil or other ingredent.

While I have described my invention with particular reference to the treatment of yarns composed of organic derivatives of cellulose such as cellulose acetate, the conditioning agents and formulas described herein are applicable to the conditioning of many other types of cellulose derivative yarns such as those composed of or containing cellulose propionate, cellulose butyrate, cellulose acetate propionate, cellulose acetate butyrate, ethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, benzyl cellulose and-others, as well as to the conditioning of silk, wool, cotton, viscose and other natural or artificial materials.

'Ihe term "yarn" as used herein and in the as including a single filament, a plurality of filaments associated into the form of a thread,

single or multiple threads associated or twisted together, composite threads composed of a mixture of natural and artificial filaments or a composite thread formed by twisting together indi- 1 vidual strands of natural or artificialmatcrials,

either of high or low twist, lulose acetate amenable as well as cut staple fibers produced from natural and/or artificial filaments or threads and spun yarn produced from such staple fibers.

As indicated above, .the yarn conditioning agents of my invention are readily soluble in a wide variety of mineral, blown and unblown, drying and semi-drying animal and vegetable oils such as cottonseed, olive, castor, neat's-foot, sperm and other oils. This enables them to be used with any of such oils in making up a variety of yarn treating formulas of varying composition.

Not only may the above-mentioned morpho line derivatives of my invention be used in connection with the above older types of lubricants, but they may be used in admixture or association with the lubricating and softening agents described in the co-pending application of Dickey and McNally, Serial No. 176,684, filed November 26, 1937.

The yarn conditioning method and compositions of my invention possess many outstanding advantages. The fundamental and outstanding characteristic of the agents employed in accordance with the invention is their ability to soften yarn, especially those composed of or containing organic derivatives of cellulose such as cellulose acetate and render "them soft and pliable and amenable to various textile operations, especially operations such as those involved in weaving and knitting where complicated designs or stitches are employed, without too drastic an action on the yarn material. Another outstanding characteristic of these compounds is their exceptionalsolvent power for a wide variety of mineral, animal and vegetable oils and their ability to act as lubricating assistants in conjunction with these oils when applied to such yarns. In addition, due to their solubility in water, they may be readily removed from yarns and fabrics by means of the usual scour baths. By employing the yarn conditioning agents and method of my invention as herein described, one is enabled to obtain highly satisfactory results in the manufacture of yarns and woven fabrics and especially the production from these yarns of closely knit fabrics free from defects such as pin holes, stitch distortion, laddering and the like.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

x 1. The process of conditioning yarn composed of or containing cellulose acetate to render it more amenable to textile operations including knitting, weavingyspinning, and the like, which comprises applying thereto a lubricating and softening composition containing as its essential lubricating and softening component N-p-hydroxyethyl morpholine palmitate.

2. A conditioning agent for rendering yarns composed of or containing cellulose acetate more amenable to textile operations including knitting, weaving, spinning, and the like containing N-phydroxyethyl morpholine palmitate.

. 3. Textile yarns composed of'or containing celcluding knitting, weaving, spinning, and the like, impregnated with a lubricant comprising N-phydroxyethyl morpholine Ila-imitate.

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to textile operations in-, 

